A machine of a type in widespread use for wrapping packages with plastic film supplied on a roll, such as stretch film, comprises a frame, a ring rotatable on the frame and defining a circular path around a horizontal axis, a support extending horizontally toward an open center of the ring and arranged to support a package being wrapped, and a carriage mounted to the ring for conjoint movement with the ring and arranged to support the roll of film with its axis parallel to the horizontal axis of the ring. The support may be a ledge or a conveyor. The carriage is movable along the circular path, around the ledge, when the ring is rotated so that film from the roll supported by the carriage is wrapped in successive layers, around the support and around a package supported by the support, as the carriage is moved around the ring.
A wrapping machine of the type noted above is available commercially from ITW Mima (an Illinois Tool Works Company) of Boca Raton, Fla., under the trade designations "ITW Mima MSB" and "Mima Stretch Bundler". Heretofore, this machine has employed a manually actuated cutting and clamping mechanism, which catches and cuts the last wrap of stretch film.